Author of his first goal in Trojan colors last weekend, Pape Ibnou Ba was one of the architects of ESTAC’s victory against Metz (2-1, J7). We spoke with the striker, who arrived this summer in Blue and White. Discover his comments two days before the trip to Dunkirk (J8).
You scored your first goal in your new colors, against FC Metz (J7). How did you feel at the moment?
I am very proud to have scored this goal, especially in front of the supporters. I know they were happy after this match against Metz and we will need them all season. I’ve been waiting for a while to find the net again and it’s done. I hope that we will continue in this direction and that I will be decisive again in the next rounds.
Can you tell us about the action on your goal?
We repeated this type of action a lot in training, especially with Cyriaque who overflowed on his side. When I saw him pass his defender, I knew he was going to slide it into the right zone. Martin Adeline cut at the near post so I stayed behind at the penalty spot. It’s my role as a scorer to sense the actions, to sniff out the opportunities. It worked for me and I finished this movement with my left foot.
The celebration is awesome. All the players head towards the sidelines and towards Stéphane Dumont, the coach. You are also at the initiative of this celebration…
There was a lot of joy, a lot of relief. We expected a very difficult match and it was the case. The first thing that came to my mind was to go to the coach. He supports us on a daily basis and gives us a lot of advice. The team’s success is also his and it was a highlight for all of us. This team is a real family. I have a lot of confidence in our qualities and what we can achieve in the next matches.
ESTAC won its first match of the season against the only undefeated team in the championship, FC Metz. This remains an important performance… Do you share this opinion?
We were keen to really launch our season, in front of our supporters. Now it doesn’t have to stop here. We are already focused on our trip to Dunkirk. We are going to face a team that has values, that plays the ball well. What we did last weekend, we must be able to reproduce it in every match. In any case in desire, character, values…
Four matches await us for this month of October. It’s a busy schedule with two trips and two receptions.
That’s what we like when we play at a high level. Everyone wants to play matches, to show themselves. These will be 4 matches, each as important as the other. We have to perform and start a positive series.
